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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25897321">Cirice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercy_Rhyne/pseuds/Mercy_Rhyne'>Mercy_Rhyne</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ghost (Sweden Band), Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Based on a song/clip, Choking, Christianity, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders &amp; Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Don't ask me what Ghost is doing here, Mentions of religion, Minor Violence, Some Satanic imagery if you squint, You can decide what kind, are here, it's kinda ambiguous, it's very brief though, mass panic, they just</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:54:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,520</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25897321</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercy_Rhyne/pseuds/Mercy_Rhyne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not that Remus didn't like his family. No, he did. Most of the time, anyways. He just didn't want to be here, at a talent show he had no interest in. All because Roman was going to perform. He didn't care for that. </p><p>However, one band performing that night seems to change something in him. Something he doesn't quite understand.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cirice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Warnings: Religion mentions (Christianity), slight occult imagery if you squint, choking, mild violence, powers</p><p> </p><p>Based on the song and the clip Cirice by Ghost<br/>(and when I say 'based on' it's pretty much the clip because I vibed with it, just some details changed)</p><p>Thanks to princey_pie for helping with the tags and proofreading this!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Remus hadn’t imagined he’d be spending his Saturday night at a community talent show. And if he had anything to say about this, he wouldn’t. He’d be sprawled out on the couch, finally enjoying having the house to himself. Free from his mother and his stupid twin brother. Now, don’t get him wrong, he liked them. In the way that one liked family if you didn’t have a huge problem with them but they’re not your favourite people either. He didn’t mind them. But Roman being the favourite twin got annoying after a while. Their mom tried to say that she didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>a favourite. That she loved both her sons equally. But Remus wasn’t too sure about that. He didn’t feel like she didn’t like him, he didn’t think she was a bad mom. But she liked Roman a little more than she liked Remus. And that got annoying sometimes. So, if he could, Remus would like to spend some time alone. But </span>
  <em>
    <span>no. </span>
  </em>
  <span>His mother dragged him to this stupid community talent show hosted by their school. Because Roman had signed up and they needed to ‘support’ him. Even though talent shows were boring as shit. Nothing but people showing off or trying to show off but failing miserably.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So there they were. Forced to take front row seats because everything else was taken. They might have been a little late, mostly due to Remus’ stalling. He wouldn’t have minded if they came in late and missed the show because the doors had been closed already. But alas. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t that Remus didn’t want to support his brother. He just didn’t want to sit through at least two hours of pure torment to do so. And maybe he got a little sick of things being about Roman and his passion in music all the time. Although he wouldn’t ever admit that to his family. He knew that that conversation wouldn’t go well, and he wanted to avoid arguments like that until he could move out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not long after Remus and his mom took a seat, the principal came on the stage. He welcomed everyone and thanked them for showing up and supporting them (meaning: ‘thank you for the money you paid for the tickets, this is gonna disappear in our own pockets’). He let the head of the committee that had organised this talent show have a few words, again thanking everyone for coming and promoting their committee. Even that introduction already seemed to last an eternity. It had probably been twenty minutes, but it had been the worst twenty minutes of Remus’ life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, that had been a lie. No, the time that came after that was even worse. First, there were the younger children who thought they could dance or do magic, and everyone pretended to be amazed at that. There were some feats that were genuinely impressive, like the group of teens doing a gymnastics act that involved things that Remus would break his back trying. But just them being impressive didn’t mean he </span>
  <em>
    <span>liked </span>
  </em>
  <span>it. They didn’t fail at their thing, he just wasn’t interested enough. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was an intermission and Remus suggested leaving after they had seen Roman. As a joke, of course, even though a part of him hoped his mother would tell him that was a great idea. Obviously, that was just stupid hope. His mother would never agree to that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And she didn’t. She didn’t even consider it, so Remus brushed it off as a dumb joke and dropped the subject quickly. He just wanted to get this over with. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After the intermission, they came back to their seats in the front row and Remus noticed that the stage had changed. There was more room to move (and, possibly, space for instruments), the lights had changed and there were more microphones. It appeared to be time for music then. Maybe that was one thing that could make this night a little better, even if Remus doubted that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few kids from his school came on with a mediocre cover of Gasoline. Some old guy played a song Remus had never heard of and a young couple sang two duets together. It was nice, but nothing that stole Remus’ heart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, the next act came up. They were introduced as Ghost, a name that made Remus quite curious. As stupid as it was, their community was quite… religious. And Remus didn’t have a problem with that. But it wasn’t his thing. Either way, he was curious how they would end up. If it would be approved by the audience or not. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At first, five people came up on the stage. They all wore black, from head to toe. Even though he couldn’t even see their heads behind the big masks they wore. They seemed to be made of iron, even though Remus knew that couldn’t be the case. They seemed too light, too shiny, too perfect to be iron. It did have an interesting look to it, and Remus hoped that maybe… this act could be fun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The five faceless people took up their instruments and started playing. Starting with a simple guitar riff, drums and bass quickly joining as the riff repeated. It wasn’t much, but it promised more than most things he had seen today. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t until the lead singer came up on the stage, that Remus sat up a little straighter. He heard a slight outrage around him at the man clad in a black robe with golden inverted crosses and an unfinished circle around them — looking like a ‘g’, perhaps. He had a white and golden mitre with the same inverted cross. Most striking of all, his face, seemingly a skull; completely white, minus the black around the eyes —  one of them being completely white other than its pupil —  the nose and sides of his face.  Now </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>was interesting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I feel your presence amongst us</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You cannot hide in the darkness</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Can you hear the rumble?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Can you hear the rumble that's calling?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the singer started, his voice was… nothing like what Remus had expected. What had he expected? He wasn’t sure, maybe a grunting voice, so low you nearly felt it in your stomach, heavy screaming. But it wasn’t the soft voice he heard. That was unexpected. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His singing elicited a strong emotion from the people in the crowd and Remus could feel it. Was it the band’s non-traditional look? Was it the inverted crosses, the anti-pope, the dark beat or the ominous lyrics? Remus couldn’t be sure but he could almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>the disgust around him. Not very Christian, indeed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t mind it, though. No, he loved this. More than anything he had seen tonight. Not that that meant anything, but he did. He hoped the band would play more than just one song. He could get used to this. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I know your soul is not tainted</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Even though you've been told so</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Can you hear the rumble?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Can you hear the rumble that's calling?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now that was something that spoke to Remus in a way he couldn’t describe. He shifted in his seat, eyes fixed on the singer who looked at the crowd, knowing exactly what he was doing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can see through the scars inside you</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can see through the scars inside you</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The singer looked at Remus. He locked eyes with the teen and their eyes remained locked like that. Remus felt as if he couldn’t look anywhere else. As if he couldn’t think of anything else. He didn’t know if it was the look, or the lighting or the words and the almost angelic tone in which they were sung, but Remus felt like this singer </span>
  <em>
    <span>understood </span>
  </em>
  <span>him. Like there was some comfort in his words and his voice. As if the guy was saying this to Remus directly. Not just to the crowd but to </span>
  <em>
    <span>him.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He knew Remus’ struggles and was trying to comfort him. And it worked. It really fucking worked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A candle casting a faint glow</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You and I see eye to eye</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Can you hear the thunder?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How can you hear the thunder that's breaking?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The beat picked up again and the singer turned away and continued singing, but Remus’ feeling didn’t change. It was as if his words had awakened something in the teen and he couldn’t steer it away now. He didn’t know what it was, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>something.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Something was happening. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Now there is nothing between us</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>From now our merge is eternal</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Can't you see that you're lost?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The singer looked at Remus again and held out his hand. This was supposed to be for him, wasn’t it? It wasn’t just for the show, but it was real, wasn’t it? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus felt himself staring at the hand and getting up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Can’t you see that you’re lost without me?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Remus took his hand. And he couldn’t put it into words but it felt right. It felt like this was what he was supposed to do. It felt strong and secure, powerful and good. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But the people around him didn’t seem to think so. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can see through the scars inside you</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His mom called out his name, grabbing his shoulders in an attempt to pull him away. But Remus didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want this to end, and for some reason… neither did the singer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The teen kept holding on, trying to stretch this moment as long as he could, even as people tried to separate him from the singer with a strangely entrancing voice. They didn’t understand. They thought it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad</span>
  </em>
  <span>. But it wasn’t. This man… </span>
  <em>
    <span>understood </span>
  </em>
  <span>him. In a way no one ever had. Not even his mother, or his own twin brother. This was something else. And Remus wanted to hold on to it. Never let go of it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But eventually, the people around him managed to pull him away and push him back into his seat. He didn’t respond to his mother calling out his name in worry, he didn’t respond to any of the questions he received. He didn't listen to the people asking him if he was okay, asking what the hell he was thinking. </span>
  <span>He couldn’t get himself to. His mind was too occupied with things it deemed more important. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>On stage, the band had ended up at an instrumental solo. The singer seemed to be enjoying himself playing around with the musicians and Remus couldn’t keep his eyes off of him. It wasn’t even a conscious thing. His mind kept wandering, all over the place. Too fast for him to even realise what he was thinking and he was trying to make sense of all of it but he couldn’t even grasp his thoughts long enough to be able to do so. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Around him, people seemed to be losing their minds, almost literally. But Remus didn’t care. He only started caring when the principal reappeared, trying to push the band off the stage, starting with the singer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Can’t you see that you’re lost without me?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Remus got up, shouting at the top of his lungs as he held out his hands. He didn’t know what he was doing, but it was as if a strong power overtook him. He could feel it tingling in his body, like electricity, sparking at his fingertips as he held out his hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The principal let go of the singer, reaching for his throat instead as he turned and fell to his knees. He seemed to have trouble breathing as Remus practically threw him down with his powers. As soon as the principal was on the floor, the teen let go of him and turned to the crowd.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can see through the scars inside you</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now, that got the attention of people. Or rather, their fear. People started to get up in a panic and ran for the doors. But Remus couldn’t have that. They needed to </span>
  <em>
    <span>stay</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>listen. </span>
  </em>
  <span>They couldn't just leave like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t know what was happening. He didn’t know what he was doing. But he was in control. And he liked being in control. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>loved </span>
  </em>
  <span>it. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can see through the scars inside you</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At his mental command, the doors closed, locking everyone in here with him. With </span>
  <em>
    <span>them.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Whatever ‘them’ might mean. Whoever ‘they’ might be. And no matter how hard anyone tried, the doors wouldn’t open. Remus made sure of that. No one could get out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can see through the scars inside you</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everywhere, it seemed like people were losing their minds. They already were, of course, but Remus’ newfound powers seemed to amplify that. He had no idea what was going on, but he liked it. The sensation of being in control, the power surging through his body. He loved it. He felt so powerful. It felt as if he was meant to be like this. And he loved every single second of it. For once, people were paying attention to </span>
  <em>
    <span>him.</span>
  </em>
  <span> People <em>had</em> to pay attention to </span>
  <span>him.</span>
  <span> They had to do what </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>wanted them to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can see through the scars inside you</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Remus didn’t stop doing his thing and the music kept playing, not even bothered by all these people screaming and falling to the floor. The band acted like nothing was happening around them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was as if this was meant to happen. The music and Remus’ powers, they amplified each other. They made each other better. Only two people were still sat down, clearly enjoying the music. So Remus could leave them alone. All of the others, though… </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Only near the end of the song, the music abruptly stopped when the principal, unseen by Remus, pulled the plug out of their stereo, causing everything to go silent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The auditorium  was quiet for a second. No one seemed to move, no one seemed to breathe. Remus stopped what he was doing to look at the principal and everyone else fell quiet, seemingly returned to their normal mental state now that the music had stopped playing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then, the two people left on their seats started clapping. Getting to their feet and clapping. For some reason, this got a rush of elation out of Remus. One that he couldn’t quite explain. All he knew was that this was good. At least some people knew what was good for them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The teen let out a breath and managed a grin. He felt lightheaded and a little out of breath. Wherever those sudden powers came from… it had been a lot on him. He could just turn around and look at the band before he passed out.</span>
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